La Trenda lives with 4 dogs, all rescues who came to her with special needs. She spent 8 years volunteering and working for various shelters and rescues. She now spends most of her time going to dog training classes and studying training and behavior books to learn about better ways to connect with her dogs.

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So you want to be a professional dog trainer?

I am not a professional trainer but below is what I recommend to anyone who wants to become a GOOD professional trainer. The first 3 should probably be done in order. Then others can be done concurrently or in order.

Read Turid Rugaas’s – Calming Signals then go to a dog park or other event that has a lot of dogs then practice reading dog body language.

Take training classes offered by several different trainers – compare what they do with what you have read in the books. Once again, learn what NOT to do as well as what to do. There are a lot of trainers who are teaching dogs and humans the wrong things so be leery of any advice.

Take psychology courses at a local college – especially classes on learning theory

Take small business courses – some of the classes are offered for free at certain places.

Take public speaking courses and/or courses on how to educate and interact with the public

Take accounting courses, web development courses. and advertising and marketing courses.

Once you have the foundations and some skills and if you are sure you still want to be a trainer, then consider enrolling in the Karen Pryor Academy or Jean Donaldson’s Academy or some other reputable course of study.

There are other options to get certified but be extremely leery of any agency that certifies you in a short period of time or any agency that spends more time teaching how to make a sale instead of teaching you how to teach.

Speak with a lawyer about legal/liability issues. Speak with an insurance company about liability insurance.

Start offering some of your services for free at shelters, meetup groups, etc.. to get yourself noticed.

Find a reputable, experienced, positive-only trainer and see if you can shadow hi/her

Put a placard or your vehicle, make your own T shirt logo and take your well trained dog out and about. People will ask questions and you can start a dialogue.

If you don’t have a dog, foster for a local rescue group or shelter. You can also make a vest with logo for your dog(s). Once you have some experience, consider fostering or even possibly adopting a dog who has some issues. It will give a fresh perspective on how to help your clients.

Put together a website and a youtube channel to not only help people and their dogs but also to establish yourself as an expert and to show people your skills.